OpenAI 2026 hackathon

NatureDepPrint

NatureDepPrint turns nature-dependence research into interactive 21-service fingerprints, helping students learn visually and organizations identify where deeper risk assessment should begin.

Team of 2 · 0 likes · 0 comments

Archive position — measured, not model output

0 likes on Devpost

2,264 of the 7,856 archived projects have more likes, and 5,592 share exactly 0 — so this project's #5,485 place in the like-ranked listing is a tie-break inside that group, not a ranking.

Projects (log scale)

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Likes on Devpost. ▲ marks this project's group.

Show the figures
LikesProjectsShare of archive
05,59271.2%
11,75822.4%
22853.6%
3–41321.7%
5–9751.0%
10+140.2%
Devpost like counts for all 7,856 archived projects, captured when this archive was built.

Executive Summary

NatureDepPrint is a self-reported static browser-based platform that visualizes firm-level dependence on ecosystem services using a dataset of 222,564 firm-year records across 117 countries from 2010 to 2023. The platform presents this data through interactive visualizations such as 21-bar fingerprints and radial profiles, allowing users to explore recorded company-nature dependence across 21 ecosystem-service dimensions.

The project was built by two individuals (Malek Itani, Dr. Mahmoud Arayssi) as part of a hackathon submission and is hosted on GitHub Pages. It distinguishes between "nature dependence" — which reflects recorded reliance on ecosystem services — and "nature-related risk," which involves additional factors not captured in the dataset.

Key commercial due-diligence read

The platform appears to be an educational tool for students, educators, and sustainability professionals, but there is no evidence of revenue, customers, or adoption beyond its self-reported description. The single most important open question is whether this project has any traction or commercial viability beyond its hackathon origin.

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What The Product Actually Is

The description states that NatureDepPrint is an interactive platform designed to help users understand how businesses depend on ecosystem services across 21 primary dimensions. It presents firm-year records as visual fingerprints, supports exploration of company profiles, and includes a self-assessment tool for companies not in the dataset.

  • The platform uses a static website architecture hosted on GitHub Pages.
  • It contains a subset of 222,564 firm-year records from a larger dataset covering 31,772 listed firms across 117 countries from 2010 to 2023.
  • Each company-year profile is represented as a fixed-order, fixed-scale 21-dimensional vector.
  • Visualizations include vertical bar fingerprints, radial profiles, ranked scores, and circular/spider graphs.
  • A self-assessment builder allows users to create a fingerprint based on potential functionality loss and adaptation difficulty.

Inference The platform is built for educational or exploratory purposes rather than operational decision-making. It does not predict risk or financial outcomes but aims to surface where deeper assessment may be needed.

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Positioning & Claim Evolution

The description states that NatureDepPrint was inspired by the question: “How can we make firm-nature dependence visible?” The platform positions itself as a way to transform complex academic research into an accessible, interactive experience for students, educators, and sustainability professionals.

It explicitly distinguishes between:

  • Nature dependence, which reflects recorded reliance on ecosystem services.
  • Nature-related risk, which includes factors not captured in the dataset such as location, disruption likelihood, and adaptation capacity.

The platform also emphasizes that it does not predict future events or financial losses — it helps identify where deeper risk assessment should begin.

Inference The positioning is educational and exploratory, not commercial or predictive. It frames itself as a tool for understanding rather than assessing or mitigating risk.

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Target Customer & ICP

The description states that NatureDepPrint targets:

  • Students
  • Educators
  • Sustainability professionals
  • Business decision-makers

It also notes that the platform is designed to help users "understand recorded company dependence" and identify where deeper risk assessment may be useful.

There is no evidence of specific customer segments or personas beyond these general categories. The description does not indicate whether any of these groups have actually used the tool or are engaged with it.

Inference The ICP appears to be broad, encompassing academic and educational users, as well as professionals interested in sustainability. No clear segmentation or user validation is evident.

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Business Model & Pricing Evidence

The description does not state anything about a business model or pricing structure for NatureDepPrint.

It is described as a static website hosted on GitHub Pages, with no mention of monetization, subscriptions, or paid features.

Inference There is no evidence of any revenue-generating mechanism. The project appears to be non-commercial in nature.

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Technical & Delivery Signals

The platform was built using:

  • HTML5
  • JavaScript
  • Python
  • SVG
  • CSV
  • JSON
  • GitHub Pages
  • Encore (for self-assessment methodology)

It is a static browser-based website, preprocessed to support large datasets without backend or API dependencies.

The dataset is described as containing:

  • 222,564 firm-year records
  • 26,195 firms identified by unique RICs
  • Data from 2010 to 2023
  • 21 primary ecosystem-service dimensions

Visualizations are designed to be accessible and comparable across different views (bar, radial, ranked, etc.).

Inference The technical approach is lightweight and self-contained, suitable for educational or exploratory use. It avoids backend complexity but may limit scalability or interactivity.

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Traction & Maturity Signals

The description states that the platform was built as part of a hackathon submission (OpenAI 2026) and has no evidence of:

  • Revenue
  • Customers
  • User engagement
  • Adoption
  • Product-market fit

It is described as a prototype or proof-of-concept, not a production-ready product.

Inference There is no traction or maturity signal beyond its hackathon origin. No data on usage, retention, or impact is provided.

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Competitive Context

The description does not mention any direct competitors for NatureDepPrint. It is positioned as a tool that visualizes firm-nature dependence using a specific dataset and methodology derived from academic research.

It distinguishes itself by:

  • Presenting dependence data in an interactive format
  • Separating recorded scores from self-assessed scores
  • Avoiding claims of risk prediction or financial forecasting

No mention of similar tools, platforms, or datasets in the market is provided.

Inference The competitive landscape is unclear. It may be a niche educational tool with no known direct competitors, but this cannot be confirmed without external data.

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Key Risks & Red Flags

  • Lack of commercial viability: No evidence of revenue, customers, or monetization.
  • Limited scope and impact: Built as a hackathon project; no indication of long-term development or user engagement.
  • No predictive capability: The platform explicitly avoids making risk predictions, which may limit its utility for decision-makers.
  • Self-reported data only: No independent verification of the dataset or methodology.
  • Static architecture limits scalability: Hosting on GitHub Pages and lack of backend implies limited interactivity or data updates.

Inference The project is likely a prototype with no commercial traction. It may not be suitable for investment or partnership unless further development and validation occur.

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Diligence Questions To Ask The Founders

  1. What is the source of the dataset, and how was it cleaned or processed?
  2. Has the platform been tested or used by any target users (students, educators, professionals)?
  3. Are there plans to expand beyond the current 21-service dimensions or integrate additional data sources?
  4. How does the self-assessment tool differ from the official methodology in the research paper?
  5. Is there any intention to monetize or scale this platform beyond its current form?
  6. What are the long-term goals for the project, and how do they align with potential users' needs?

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Investment/Partnership Verdict

The description states that NatureDepPrint is a self-reported educational tool built as part of a hackathon submission. There is no evidence of:

  • Revenue
  • Customers
  • Product-market fit
  • Commercial traction or scalability

It is described as a static, browser-based platform with no backend or API dependencies.

Inference The project is not ready for investment or partnership at this stage. It lacks commercial viability and user engagement signals. If the founders intend to develop it further, they would need to demonstrate traction, clarity of use cases, and a path to monetization or adoption.

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Source

Submitted to the OpenAI 2026 hackathon on Devpost. Project home on DevPost.

The analysis above was generated by a language model from the project's own one-line description. It is not independent research and contains no verified traction, revenue or customer data.